The invention present relates to an hygienic article for one-time use, in particular a diaper, an incontinence product or an incontinence liner, having a front area, a rear area and a center area located between them, which comes to lie in the crotch area of the user of the hygienic article, the hygienic article has a layer, which constitutes the outside facing away from the body and is inpermeable to liquid at least in parts of it, and a layer, which constitutes the inside facing. It also has body and is liquid-permeable at least in the area of an absorbent body arranged under it, a fastening system for the releasable connection of the rear and front areas of the hygienic article when it is placed on the body of the user and for securing the used article when it is rolled up or folded together for being thrown away or disposed of, wherein the fastening system has a first fastening section with securing means at the rear area, and a second fastening section with counter-securing means at the front area so that, the rear area and the front area are connected, the first securing section can be positioned on the second fastening section so that the securing means and counter-securing means can enter into a mechanical securing connection, the securing means of the first fastening section in addition.
For putting on such an hygienic article, which absorbs body fluids and bodily excretions, the rear area and the front area are placed against the body of the user, wherein the lateral edges of the rear area and the front area are at least approximately adjoining or overlap each other so that, using the fastening system, the front and rear areas can be connected in an as optimal as possible fit of the article on the body of the user, so that an escape of body fluids or bodily excretions is prevented, helped by further aids, such as resilienty stretchable liquid barriers, bands and the suitable dimensioning of the absorbent body. For exchanging the used hygienic article for a fresh one, the fastening system is released, and the hygienic article containing body fluids and bodily excretions is taken off the user. In order to make the used hygienic article easier to dispose of, it is customarily rolled up or folded from the front area in the direction towards the rear area, so that a small package is formed, which can be manipulated and which the user, the parents or a caretaker, can pick up manually and throw into a disposal container. In order to furthermore prevent the rolled or folded up small package from opening again when it is thrown away, or thereafter in the disposal container, which leads to an unpleasant odor as well as to the escape of its smelly contents, the fastening system is also usedxe2x80x94as already indicated at the beginningxe2x80x94to secure the hygienic article in the rolled up or folded state. In the course of this, the first fastening section is pressed in a known manner on the outside of the rolled up or folded little package in such a way that it adheres, sticks, or is hooked there and prevents the unrolling or unfolding of the hygienic article.
The first fastening section at the rear of known hygienic articles is customarily provided on a section of the rear area, which is laterally widened in the shape of an hourglass, a so-called lateral flap, or on a fastening tongue which protrudes transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction, i.e. toward the sides, and which is fastened on the rear area, or respectively on the lateral flaps of the rear area. The second fastening section on the front area is either not clearly defined or is constituted by a surface which per se has mechanically acting securing means, or it extends mainly in the shape of a strip-shaped, transversely extending area at a band end section in the front area of the article. Therefore the first fastening section can be positioned, more or less overlapping the front area, in accordance with the body shape of the user.
Numerous solutions are known for designing the fastening system. For example, in European Patent 321 232 B1 it is suggested to embody the first fastening section in the shape of a tongue on the rear area in such a way that, besides a first partial section having the mechanically acting securing means, a second partial section is provided, which is provided with an application of an adhesive. Here, the first partial section with the mechanically acting securing means is used for closing the hygienic article when it is placed on the user in that the mechanical securing elements cooperate in the manner of a burr closure with mechanically acting counter-securing elements. The adhesive application in the second partial section is used for adhesively fastening the tongue on the layer of the article constituting the outside facing away from the body. When the used article is rolled together from the front area to the rear area, or is folded in such a way that the second fastening section lies in the interior of the little package, the little package is intended to be secured because of the cooperation of the adhesive second partial section with the foil-like, smooth exterior surface of the article. However, this fastening system has been shown to be disadvantageous in that the first fastening section, i.e. the fastening tongues, must be designed to be very large, or respectively long, corresponding to the two partial sections. The material requirements are therefore correspondingly large, and the laterally protruding tongues interfere with the handling of the article and appear unattractive. No defined holding power of the fastening system can be achieved, since in the course of closing there is a more or less extensive overlap or contact between the adhesively embodied second partial section and the vicinity of the second fastening section at the front, and a corresponding more or less strong adhesive connection, besides the intended mechanical connection of the securing means and counter-securing means. This indefiniteness must be considered to be disadvantageous.
Another approach for solving this problem is disclosed European Patent EP 0 321 234 A1, in that a contact section with mechanically acting counter-securing means is separately provided on the layer constituting the outside facing away from the body, which cooperates in the rolled-up or folded configuration of the article with the first fastening section. No adhesive application is provided here. The arrangement of this further mechanically acting contact strip on the outside of the article is expensive, and handling in the process of folding the article is difficult and requires alertness, since the fastening section must be exactly positioned with respect to each other. But experience has shown that in this situation in particular it is difficult to provide this alertness since, in caring for small children, often only one hand is available for folding the diaper while it is intended to place an unused hygienic article under the small child almost simultaneously.
For fastening an hygienic article in the form of a sanitary napkin on an item of clothing, it is known from European Patent EP 0 393 953 B1 a to also use an application of adhesive on the outside of the napkin, facing the item of clothing in use. So that the napkin can be secured on the textile material of the item of clothing without sliding, tapering projections are provided on the outside of the napkin having the adhesive layer, which are pushed into the textile material and in this way secure the napkin without sliding. Such an embodiment of the first fastening section of the hygienic article under discussion should, however, prove itself not suitable, since in this case a cooperation with a foil-like outside of the article facing away from the body would not be possible.
In Published International Application WO 96/25905 it a was proposed to provide the first fastening section, or respectively the mechanically acting hook-like securing means, and simultaneously also the second fastening section, with mechanically acting securing means, partially with an application of an adhesive. It is disclosed that, when connecting the rear part and the front part when the article is placed on the user, both connecting mechanisms, i.e. those securing mechanically or extending behind each other, on the one hand, and adhesively, on the other hand, are intended to work together in combination in order to form the desired fastening. In this case the force required for undoing the connection is divided into a shearing force projected on a plane, and a pull-off force acting vertically with respect to the plane, wherein the former is attributed to the mechanical connecting mechanism and the latter primarily to the adhesive connection. In accordance with the teaching of this publication the term xe2x80x9cadhesive materialxe2x80x9d is understood to mean such materials which make an adhesive connection only with other adhesive materials. Because the first, as well as the second fastening section are additionally provided with such an adhesive material, it is intended to achieve a strong adhering force, which aids the mechanical connection. The problem of securing the used hygienic article in the rolled-up or folded configuration is not addressed in this publication.
The present invention has as in the object improving an hygienic article of the type described at the outset in such a way that, when placing the article on the body of a user, the correct fit of the article is achieved, as well as a secure connection of the front and rear areas, and that the used article can be secured in a configuration suitable for throwing it away in an easily manipulatable manner.
This object is achieved by present invention with an hygienic article having the characteristics mentioned at the outset in that
a) the counter-securing means (90) of the second fastening section (64) are free of adhesive and form, for closing the hygienic article when placed on the body, a mechanical securing connection with a first peel-off force of more than 1 N/25 mm with the securing means of the first fastening section, and
b) the securing means of the first fastening section are designed to be adhesive in such a way, and the front area of the layer constituting the outside is designed, at least in the vicinity of the second fastening section, to be smooth in such a way that the securing means of the first fastening section adhere there with a second peel-off force, which is less than the first peel-off force, and
c) the securing means of the first fastening section are designed to be adhesive in such a way, and the layer constituting the outside is designed to be smooth in such a way at least in the center area, that the securing means of the first fastening section adhesively adhere there with a peel-off force of at least 0.1 N/25 mm, in order to secure the hygienic article in a rolled-up or folded configuration.
By means of the continuing development of hygienic products a shape is achieved which corresponds increasingly better to the shape of a body. Inter alia, the invention present is based on the recognition that with an optimal design in particular, a perfect fit of the hygienic product, and therefore dependable protection against leakage and a pleasant feel, free from binding, for the wearer, is provided only if the fastening system, i.e. the first and second fastening sections, are positioned and secured in a correct manner, which corresponds to the fashioning of the article. Thus, in accordance with the invention present the hygienic article is laid out in such a way that in the course of putting on the hygienic article, a user of the hygienic article, the parents or the caregivers, are forced to use the fastening system in this way, i.e. to align and position the fastening sections on the rear and front areas in such a way with each other that the fastening sections at least almost completely cover each other or overlap, in order to provide the required holding force. This is achieved by means of the characteristics of the invention present mentioned above. If the fastening system is used negligently, so that the first fastening section only slightly overlaps the second fastening section, or even comes to lie a position offset in with respect thereto, for example below a second fastening section designed as a strip-like band, because of the embodiment in accordance with the invention present of the fastening system the user will easily realize that with this positioning a sufficient fastening of the system is not achieved. He will release the first fastening section again from the just selected position and position it on the second fastening section, which can be easily identified with a little attention.
By means of the invention it has been further recognized that, with the use of the fastening system for securing the hygienic article in a configuration suitable for disposal, a peel-off force of at least 0.1 N/25 mm, preferably of 0.5 to 1 N/25 mm, is sufficient. A further advantage of the embodiment in accordance with the invention present results from the fact that for the purpose of this securing it is not necessary to provide additional, hard-to-operate contact means, but that the respective first fastening section is designed in such a way that it adheres to any arbitrary place on the outside of the center area, possibly also of the rear area, in the manner stated.
It is expressly pointed out that the nature of the layer constituting the outside can be the same over its entire surface. In this way the first fastening section adheres in the vicinity of the second fastening section with the same second peel-off force of at least 0.1 N/25 mm as on the remaining outside of the layer, in particular of the center area and the rear area.
The holding forces called peel-off forces above are defined and measured in the way described below. A 25 mm wide test strip made of a material constituting the first fastening section with its securing means is made available for testing. This test strip is applied with a pressure force of 2 kg, using a roller device, to the counter-surface to be tested. This is either the second fastening section or the layer constituting the outside of the product, which forms the vicinity of the second fastening section and preferably also the remaining outside of the product, for example the center section, to which the first fastening section is applied for disposing the rolled-up hygienic article in order to secure the rolled-up or folded configuration. In this case this counter-surface has been applied to a rigid support. The support is fastened in a tension testing device, and the test strip is clamped to one traction cheek, so that a pull-off angle of 150 results, which is slightly reduced by a few degrees during the pull-off The test strip, i.e. the first fastening section, is pulled off the counter-surface at a constant velocity while the holding force, called the peel-off force, is measured. The measured peel-off force is recorded as a function of the distance.
It is now possible in a particularly advantageous manner to embody the layer forming the outside of the article in any arbitrary manner, in particular with an essentially smooth foil-like surface, or with a fibrous surface, particularly looking like a textile. In the first case, the still remaining holding force which, in the area of the vicinity of the second fastening section is unsatisfactory, but in the center area is still sufficient for the purpose of disposal, is essentially determined by the adhesive adhering effects. If the layer constituting the outside of the hygienic article has a fibrous, textile-appearing surface, the influence of the adhesive effect is reduced and the one regarding the mechanical connection mechanism is moved into the forefront. In that case the outside of the article in the vicinity of the second fastening section is still designed to be so smooth in the front area, that the second peel-off force occurring there preferably lies considerably below the first peel-off force.
It is understood that the mechanically acting securing means of the first fastening section can be covered with an adhesive, either totally or partially. It is furthermore pointed out that the mechanically acting securing means can also be made of an adhesive material.
Preferred embodiments of the securing means, as well as the embodiment of the second fastening section with the counter-securing means and the layer of the hygienic article forming the outside facing away from the body, ensue from the following.
It has been shown to be particularly advantageous if the securing means are constituted by protrusions with end areas capable of engaging from behind or being engaged from behind and having a geometry, or respectively dimensions, as recited hereinafter. The second fastening section is a fluff-like fibrous strip material extending along the band section of the front area. This can be a textile material, for example a woven or knit material wherein, however, nonwoven materials on a nonwoven fabric basis are preferably used. As a rule, such a uff-like material made on a nonwoven fabric basis has a two-layered structure with a support layer which, for example, can consist of a foil, a spunbonded material or a melt-blown nonwoven fabric, or the like, and a loop layer forming the counter-securing means, for example a card web or a spunbonded material, which is engaged by the securing means of the first fastening section, which can get hooked there.
The fluff-like material can furthermore have a print image which can be applied either to the support layer, or directly on the loop layer, or to a third, particularly a foil-like layer, which is then preferably positioned between the support layer and the loop layer.
It was found that the embodiment of the fluff-like fibrous material is of particular importance for the holding strength between the first fastening section of the rear area and the fluff-like material of the front area. The fiber thickness, fiber length, the mass per unit area of the fluff-like fibrous material are preferably provided in accordance with the following description.
It has been shown to be particularly advantageous if the fluff-like, fibrous material has raised places having the dimensions in accordance with the following description which form loops arranged in a regular pattern. The raised places forming the loops can be obtained in an advantageous manner by heat-sealing the fluff-like fibrous material against the support layer. It is possible to obtain a flat material compound made of a foil-like support layer and a fluff-like fiber layer from 3M Deutschland GmbH, Neuss, Germany, which has a parallel endless wave pattern of raised places made by the application of heat-sealing stampings extending parallel with respect to each other. A flat material compound with lozenge-shaped heat-sealing stampings can be obtained from Corovin GmbH, Peine, Germany.
The layer forming the outside facing away from the body, which can have a smooth surface, or at least a surface conveying a certain textile-like, fibrous character, is a foil, or preferably an at least two-layered, in particular three-layered nonwoven fabric-foil laminate. The three-layered laminate preferably comprises a foil-like melt-blown layer forming the outside, and a spunbonded layer adjoining it, and an inside located foil layer (spunbonded-melt-blown laminate).
Further characteristics, details and advantages of the present invention ensue from the attached claims, as well from as from the drawings and the subsequent description of a preferred embodiment of the hygienic product in accordance with the present invention.